Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Sponsor Surgery for a Little Boy's Cat﻿﻿

Luna with her boy

Official fundraiser description

Luna Twilight Miyu, the 4-year-old kitty companion of a 6.5-year-old boy, needs surgery. She has gone through months of medications, treatments, and misdiagnosis, and a surgery. Because of this, her owners have depleted their financial resources.﻿﻿﻿

Luna needs more extensive surgery to remove a large polyp that is deforming her palette and blocking her airway. The estimated cost for soft palette surgery is $3,000. She will not survive without this surgery.

And now the personal story

After my son lost his first cat to a terminal illness (Feline Infectious Peritonitis, or FIP), I put out feelers for a long-haired Maine Coon Mix type of cat. My son randomly started talking about adopting a black and white cat.

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A week later, I received an email about a cat that had shown up on the doorstep of a rescuer. The cat was about two years old and had obviously been living on the streets; she had no microchip and no one claimed her. Her description: black and white Maine Coon Mix. It seemed meant to be.

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Luna before she got sick.

﻿﻿We brought our new cat home in August 2014. Our family jointly named her Luna Twilight Miyu, meaning “beautiful, soft moon.” The seven-pound cat proceeded to turn the house upside down with her mischievous energy. We laughed at her antics. My son enjoyed playing and cuddling with his new friend.

Two years later, Luna developed a runny nose and her appetite was poor. I took her to the vet, not knowing that this was the first of many visits. Her vet diagnosed a respiratory infection. Over the coming months, Luna endured numerous medications (antibiotics, antihistamines, steroids, etc.), follow-up visits, x-rays, blood tests, a stay at the vet hospital for intravenous fluids, vitamins, and medications, and more. None of the medical interventions worked.

Luna resting with her pink teddy bear.

When Luna’s nose became so stuffy that she couldn’t smell, she stopped eating on her own. I started syringe feeding her. Four months later, I am still syringe-feeding her. We run a humidifier 24/7 and she gets daily nebulizer treatments. We also give her subcutaneous fluids.

In late January 2017, we took her to a new veterinarian at Central Texas Animal Hospital. The vet examined her and listened to her noisy breathing. Minutes later, she had a new suspect – nasopharyngeal polyp. We were referred to Heart of Texas Veterinary Specialty Center.

On January 31, 2017, Luna was sedated to allow for a thorough exam and surgical removal of the polyp. The veterinary doctor worked for two hours, but she couldn’t remove the entire polyp.

Luna came home the next day. She is healing and regaining her energy, but she still requires intensive nursing, including syringe feeding. Her soft pallet is distended and she will not survive without a more extensive surgery.

Luna Twilight Miyu is a little cat with a big personality and will to live. She is a survivor who has fought back from all of her challenges. Now she needs soft palette surgery to remove the polyp so she can breathe and thrive.

We finally have the correct diagnoses; however, we have exhausted our financial resources over the months of medical interventions. Please help us save our little boy’s cat.